Hispanic Utah
Like your secure Utah job as the rest of the country heads into a depression? How about your home value, which continues to appreciate in the Beehive State while the rest of the country defaults on mortgages? Thank a Mexican immigrant. According to November’s annual population report, Utah’s resilient economy was driven by a population influx that brought more people to Utah last year than during any previous year in state history. Many of the 44,000 new residents came to build homes for the 53,000 new babies. The state’s population has reached 2.7 million. Population researchers say 20 percent of the new residents are Hispanic, and about half of those are undocumented. It’s time for Utahns to bone up on their Spanish, and learn to say gracias.
Mitt and Muslims
Prepping to explain Mormonism to the world, Mitt Romney—by all accounts except his own—says he won’t consider a qualified Muslim for a cabinet post because of the small population of American Muslims. The correct politician’s answer would have been to say he’d go with the best-qualified candidate, no matter what religion. Romney didn’t give that answer because his anti-“Jihadist” presidential run is about appealing to small-minded bigots who think Muslims have horns—the same folks spreading the Internet lie that Barack Obama is Muslim. Now, Romney has the gall to give a “JFK speech” to explain that Mormons—another religious minority—are just like everybody else. Even for a master flip-flopper, that’s a tall order.
Taco Talks
Salt Lake City’s taco carts won’t be swept from the street without a fight. Protesting City Council regulations that will make street vending a practical impossibility come January, Centro Civico Mexicano correctly notes that city rules unfairly target taco carts for extinction in favor of other, non-Hispanic businesses. John Renteria, a one-time mayoral candidate, notes no street vendors were asked for input before the City Council passed its anti-taco ordinance. City employees appear concerned and will be conducting sessions about the new rules in Spanish. Hopefully, the attention will cause the council to rethink the street-vendor regulations and write new rules that balance the interests of all city residents, regardless of whether or not they speak the council’s language.
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